Quarry DA Press Release May 29, 2017

By tonyh, 31 May, 2017
News

Meeting 10am 17 June

Quarry Threat Casts Shadow Over Local Villages

MidCoast Council last week put on exhibition DA269/2017 which is for a rock mining quarry on the iconic Fame Cove property bordering Port Stephens.

This quarry may require the services each year of up to 5000 truck movements and all the necessary industrial equipment to process up to 25,000 cu m of ultra hard volcanic Andesite rock.

The DA does not explain exactly how the rock will be extracted or crushed except that there will be no blasting. We are told there will be no noise or vibration, but not why.

Furthermore the DA does not explain what provisions will be made to protect the ambience of surrounding areas, including the amenity of the adjacent villages - Bundabah 600m to the north and North Arm Cove 1500m to the west.

We are informed that the quarry will be on a prominent hill 85m above sea level. But the developer claims that somehow it will not be visible from the water or public places.

Most concerning is the provision for managing pollution through a 'self-auditing' process. The developer has a  history of non compliance with DAs. He is presently before the NSW Land and Environment Court to defend allegations of exceeding the provisions of Council imposed DAs. The concept of self auditing seems totally inappropriate given the circumstances.

 Mr Yearsley from the North Arm Cove - Fame Cove Subcommittee, stated, " The rock to be mined is extremely hard granite. If it is not to be blasted, the use of heavy rock breaking machinery must be brought in to hammer the material out of the quarry.  We are seriously concerned that the adjoining peaceful villages of Bundabah, North Arm Cove and Pindimar will suffer from the noise, dust and vibration associated with industrial high impact machinery. All this, together with a crushing plant and heavy truck movements on a daily basis, would outrage communities for kilometres around. We see this development could well result  in a serious loss of amenity for our  villages."

The North Arm Cove Resident and Bundabah/Pindimar Community Associations are conducting a Public Meeting: North Arm Cove Hall, Saturday 17 June, 10 am to acquaint the community with the details which are presently available on the MidCoast Council's web site. There is no shortage of available stone or crushed rock from well-managed local quarries without more local disturbance and damage to Port Stephens waterways and the environment.

Absolute opposition to this proposal is encouraged.

Issued by Len Yearsley, Vice President of the North Arm Cove Residents Association and Chairman of its Fame Cove Sub Committee.

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